Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-07-21

ehseces were that the conductor would
not believe his story, and he would
probably be given into custody-bag
and baggage-at the next station. So,
of two evils, he chose the one which
seemed the least, comforting himself
with the assurance that the train would
probably arrive at its destination very
soon, when he could slip off unob-
served. The voice of Tad's lady-as
he mentally termed her-disturbed his
perplexed reverie.
"What time do we get in. John,
1ear?" she asked, az she settled her
feet on the comfortable hassock.
From behind his paper "John, dear, "
was understood to mutter that, pro-
vided the train didn't run off the track
Or over an embankment, they were due
about eight a. IN. on the following
morning in the city of Boston!
I" Boston, oh gimminy crickets! I
haze been and gone and done it now!"
gasped poor Tad, who in moments of
excitement was apt to use language
which at other times he rather prided
himself on avoiding, because his
mother used to dislike it so. Tad had
I vague impression that Boston was a
sort of large country town in far-of
region known as "down East" Fur
Their than this he knew not, except that
it was sometimes called the "Hub, "
and seemed to be sort of headquar-
ters for culture-whatever that was
and baked beans. At least so he read
in the city papers.
But, in his small way, Tad was some
thing of philosopher. He had not yet
learned that through seeming misfort-
unes the great Fatherhood leads His
children in just the way that proves
best in the end-this knowledge was to
come. All he could do was to keep
from useless fretting, and accept the
situation as coolly as possible. There
fore, settling down as comfortably as
he could, Tad gave hims elf up to hard
thinking, and, quite naturally, his mind
went backward as well as forward.
Tad's father had been a soldier in the
regular army; and when, a few months
before, the news had arrived that he
was killed in Il skirmish with the In
dams on the frontier. his mother, never
very strong, had seemed to receive her
own death-blow. She grew paler and
thinner, till at len 9Th she had to give
up work, from lack of strength to ruiz
her sewing-machine, which helped to
earn their daily bread. And finally.
when the end came, the sale of the
sewing-machine itself, together with
their scanty stock of furniture, barely
sufficed to pay the poor woman's burial
expenses. 1t is a common story enough
Hundreds of broken hearted, over
worked, half-starved women all over the
land have lived and died after the same
fashion, and will till the millennium
comes. Yet this fact does not comfort
the orphans they leave behind them.
Certainly, it was no comfort to Tad,
who was nearly wild with grief at the
loss of the one being whom he had to
love in the wide world. Only for things
that his mother said to him before she
fell asleep, 1 fear Tad would have drift
ed into the ways of too many of our
city boys who, like him, are left home
less and friendless amid temptation and
sin. But the boy had good stuff in
him, and, best of all, he held his moth
er's memory and parting words as
something too sacred to be forgotten.
do not claim that he was one of those
immaculate street boys common enough
in fiction, but, alas! so rare in fact. BY
no means. Truth compels me to state
that Tad Thorne at the age of fourteen
was rather rude in speech, quick-tem-
pered and the owner of a decidedly
obstinate disposition, which, however,
was readily affected by kindly words.
Yet, do you wonder at his faults? The
only wonder to myself is that Tad did
not become really bad boy; for since
his mothers death he had, as one may
say, almost lived in the streets. For
Tad had no home. A friendly news
vender gave him lodgings under his
periodical counter in the city post
office, in return for which Tad sold pa
pers or ran errands. And in odd mo-
ments he had managed to keep soul
and body together by backing boots.
peddling matches, carrying valises,
holding horses, and score of other de-
vices known to the average street boy.
have mentioned Tad's faults; now
let me tell you some of his better quail
ties. He was honest. clean-mouthed. and,
generally speaking, truthful, as well as
kind-hearted and generous to an ex-
travagant degree. He had attended the
night schools = attracted at first by
their warmth and comfort-where he
learned to read creditably, spell fairly,
write legibly and cipher understand
ingly. But, with his superiority in many
respects over the associates among
whom his lot of late had been thrown,
Tad, in thinking matters over, had to
confess that, in business point of
view, he had been any thing but sue
oocS Tho t,.,,th ic Tod ruoc not charm